I've tried purposely staying away from this, because nothing anyone says or does is going to undo what's been done.
Words and actions have consequences.
Our society has become far too tribal.
Republicans. Democrats. Conservatives. Liberals. Independents. Libertarians. Constitutionalists. Black. White. Asian. Native American. Tall. Short. Fat. Skinny. Homosexual. Heterosexual. Male. Female.
These are labels. They are not our character. They are not traits of ours. They are not what's in our hearts, minds, and souls.
Here we are, as usual, arguing over an incident and who's right and who's wrong. Who's morally superior and who's morally depleted. Whose reasons are justified and whose reasons are reprehensible.
Charlie Kirk lost his life for his words.
Jimmy Kimmel lost his job for his words.
Now, a person losing a job for speaking their mind is not even remotely close to a person losing their life for doing the same.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Charlie Kirk belong in the same boat.
Gina Carano and Jimmy Kimmel belong in the same boat.
These are two vastly different scenarios, though.
Now, I was sad for Charlie Kirk's family and friends. 31 is WAY to young to die, for any reason.
But, I was hopeful that since it was so public and tragic, and being that it was September 10 - just one day from the anniversary of 9/11, that we may experience a 9/12.
Anyone remember September 12, 2001? I'll even go so far as to ask if anyone remembers the week after 9/11.
We all had remarkable empathy for one another. I vividly remember going out of my way to be more patient, understanding, friendly to people in general.
My hope was we would have another moment like this as a country.
I asked my parents, who were both in their 20s at the time, if the aftermath of the JFK assassination felt like the days after 9/11.
They said I was not far off and actually very close.
But not this incident. Instantly, we Americans went to the finger pointing and blame game. We went for the soundbites and clicks. We went to painting narratives. We went to defending "our side" rather than mourn the senseless death of a fellow American. To have sympathy for a widow and two children who will probably never know their father other than video clips and family photos.
Use this moment in time to take a deep breath and really think about what's really important in life.
Being right in an argument on a messageboard shouldn't be on your list. And I am just as guilty as anyone here.
Tibs - Special shout out. While ideologically we often don't see eye to eye, I appreciate and respect your initial post in this thread more than you know. A sincere and heartfelt thank you to you, good sir. God bless you for your thoughtful and rational words in the immediate aftermath.
It is in this spirit that I will now make my "world famous" brownies from scratch and will take these to my neighbor who I constantly bicker with about picayune nonsensical things that really don't matter much in the grand scheme of things.
To all my Steelernation brothers and sisters - This isn't me singing kumbya and thinking we'll all agree on everything and never argue/debate things here.
But we certainly don't have to be turds doing it.
As divided as we are so many topics, we ALL love our beloved Steelers.
See? Right there. Common ground. BOOM!